CD Reviews

By far Eloy's best, in my opinion

BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 10/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Never had I ever known a prog band where the fans were so divided as Eloy. I can understand why fans might be divided over Yes or Genesis since they did turn to more generic pop in the 1980s, but with Eloy it seems that each time the band witnesses another lineup change, they changed their sound and many fans of Eloy's certain sound might not be a fan of their next sound. That's why I see lots of bickering over whether people like Inside and Floating the best, Dawn, Ocean, and Silent Cries the best, or Colours, Planets, Time to Turn, and Metromania the best. For me it's Ocean, particularly because I have a '70s bias. Let me tell you, Ocean is some of the most stunning progressive space rock I have ever heard in my life! A wonderful concept album about the rise and destruction of Atlantis, I really felt Frank Bornemann did the right thing when he added bassist Klaus-Peter Matziol, keyboardist Detlev Schmidtchen, and drummer Jürgen Rosenthal to the band because never before or after had Eloy created such mindblowing work as with this lineup, as Ocean demonstrates. People seem to think that the opener "Poseidon's Creation" is the best and it's all downhill from there. I'll have to disagree there. The second cut, "Incarnation of Logos" is simply stunning. Not too often have I ever heard a song with such out of this world string synths as I have this one! Plus I truly dig the synth solo in the middle. Not to mention the song ends up reminding me a little of Gentle Giant at the end. "Decay of Logos" starts of with some really cool synth work before becoming heavier (in fact it's the heaviest piece on the album). The final piece, "Atlantis' Agony..." is the one people seem to have the most problems with. It starts off with some narration, then with an 8 minute long synth drone. To me I love it! I find it positively mindblowing. If you listen more carefully to the synth drones, you'll find more than just droning, like strange wailing sounds played on an ARP 2600 synthesizer and other cool sounding synths. The other half of this piece shows the rest of the band kicking in, pretty much the same style as the rest of the album. Plus it features a really cool Moog solo. Of course, this being an Eloy album, many of you will have problems with Frank Bornemann's singing, since he's a German having problems with mastering the English language, but he doesn't bother me any. I am rather surprised to find out Ocean had outsold Queen and Genesis in Germany, which seems to be, in an era of punk and disco, that the Germans must have still had good tastes in the late 1970s else bands like Eloy, Novalis, etc. would not have done so well there. So if you want yourself some of the more out of this world spacy prog rock with killer synths and not bothered by Bornemann, you need Ocean!"

A Musical Story of Atlantis

Mr D. | Cave Creek, Az United States | 01/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Eloy (name taken from H G Well`s Time Machine) is a German Atmospheric, Progressive Art Rock band that was formed back in 1969. Through the years, personal wise, the band has totally turned over, in some positions, several times. Their originator Frank Bornemann (guitars/vocals) has persevered, presiding over a three decade band, that has turned out some of the best progressive rock music, I've had the fortune to hear.

OCEAN

Ocean, their sixth album, released in 1977, is a concept album, depicting the rise and fall of Atlantis. Though there are only four tracks, they average almost eleven minutes each. Many Eloy aficionados point to this album as their `tour de force'. It is excellent, but as far as I'm concerned , based on what I've heard so far, there is no album that stands heads above the others.

Overall, Ocean has an atmospheric ambience reminiscent of Hawkwind or a more unknown band that I once reviewed named Ship of Fools. It also reminds me Jeff Wayne's, War of the Worlds.

Track listing

1. Poseidon's Creation (11:38) **** Has a long droning medium pace and a whinny guitar intro. At the 4:40 mark, Bornemann finally begins the vocal. There is quite a lot of guitar playing on this song, augmented occasionally by the synth.

2. Incarnation Of The Logos (8:25) **** Has an atmospheric vocal beginning. The song doesn't seem to have much of a melody until the 3:40 mark when the synth/organ takes over with a pleasant one, assisted by some percussion and a bell now and then.

3. Decay Of The Logos (8:15) ***½ The shortest song at eight minutes seems a little jerky at first with more monologue than music. When it does get going after about three minutes it's still jerky in a medium paced beat. Strong synth playing through the middle.

4. Atlantis' Agony At June 5th - 8498, 13 p.m. Gregorian Earthtime (15:35) *****This is a monster song. It is like nothing I've ever heard. Except for a fifty some second monologue at the beginning, "Atlantis..." starts with a truly intriguing eight minute plus instrumental intro. Not just any intro, like you're used to, with a full orchestra and violins. No this is an spacey atmospheric intro that would make the great Pink Floyd, envious, with the propitious use of ghostly sounds and special effects segueing into an amazing five minute organ bridge, with no beat just the Hammond a few side effects and you. No it doesn't get boring. Instead it sets you up for the vocals, which issue forth at about the eight minute mark. Slowly the rhythm section establishes a slow beat, while the singer does a great imitation of Bob Dylan, with a remarkable spacey synth breaking in between the vocal. But we're not done. With about two minutes left, the band picks up the tempo to a medium fast tempo (the first time I`ve heard them play at this speed). Now the violins join in with the guitar and synth for the finale of this great finale.

One of the factors, I find appealing about this band, is that in the span of three decades, they managed to present a style of music which was compatible with each era, so listening to their albums from different periods gives us a window into the progressive music of various time periods. Eloy's musical tempo almost never exceeds medium and on Ocean tends to be more in the medium slow range.

Listening to this and other Eloy albums I hear influences from numerous other bands. Like many prog bands I hear Pink Floyd but I also hear Uriah Heep, Moody Blues and Bob Dylan (really, on track four!)."

ELOY at their creative and progressive musical height

Ricardo Haskins | Dallas, TX United States | 10/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have just recently bought all the Eloy CD's that they produced in the 1970's, which is the period regarded as their creative and progressive musical best. This was their next to last studio album (back then they were albums, remember?), and was released in 1977, before their sound changed slightly, mostly due to a change in personnel on keyboards (Manfred Wieczorke 1973-1975 and Detlev Schmidtchen 1976-1979 and others after 1980).

I simply much prefer the sound from the albums that came out with Schmidtchen on keyboards, secondly with Wieczorke, and much less from the 1980's and beyond. The music from this period (1976-1979) is highly pleasurable and sometimes almost intoxicating. It keeps reminding me of Camel from their best period, which was this same time frame - the mid to late 1970's. It is very similar music, not too heavy/loud except occasionally (the right mix for me), very progressive and unique, extraordinarily creative, sometimes hypnotic but certainly very alive and captivating.

Camel has always been one of my favorite groups, so that is why I love Eloy! The shame is, for some unknown reasons, I was never exposed to Eloy in the 70's, but only recently introduced to them at the Austin, TX record convention last year. Geesh! Now I seem to making up for lost time and am enjoying every listen.

This is the CD I have come to love the most by Eloy, by far! And it always satisfies me while leaving me with a feeling I want to recapture all over again, as if I were back in time in the 70-'s when progressive music was arguably at its pinnacle.

If you want to experience Eloy for the first time, you may possibly wish to try to Live album, as it captures the first 8 years of music, starting off with the heavy "Poseidon's Creation", also the opening track from this CD. Either way, if you like what you hear, if you like this kind of music, you'll be like me and want to buy all the Eloy CD's from the 1970's.

I find this one to be far and away their best AND my favorite! It is a true work of 70's progressive musical genious!! And I can safely say it has become in the range of one of my favorite alltime albums. And that, my friends, is a hard position to achieve!"

Usually I don't like spacerock as much as NeoclassicPROG,but

Lethe | Milan, Italy | 12/23/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well usually I don't like space/kraut rock as much as neoclassical /classic symphonic PROG MUSIC (After Crying,Isildurs Bane,Anglagard, Mirthrandir, Yezda Urfa, etc.), but in this case, in comparison to the best german space works of Novalis,Grobschnitt or Nektar, this work stands in the same place without reserve !!The concept is about the rise and fall of Atlantis, whose narration -expecially in the track "Atlantis' Agony ..."- is a bit boring. Nevertheless, it sounds almost like Klaus Schulze and it is quite interesting. However,starting by order, the first track "Poseidon's Creation" is characterized by heavy organ riffs, enriched with an atmospheric moog theme and a majestic chorus at the end as well !!Besides the instrumental middle section concerning the track "The incarnation of the logos" is very interesting, making the sci-fi Eloy trademark a secure reference ...anyway their best trademark- the title track- is regarded as a true piece of art music, probably featuring their best stuff, even though I prefer the album "Dawn", here at Amazon not mentioned !!If you love the best space rock, you have to buy this album!!"

An Epic Piece

cockatoolook@netscape.net | Ottawa | 05/01/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For those who have not listened to Eloy before, I highly recommend this masterpiece. There is something fascinating about Ocean. It is an art- rock epic that fuses Yes and Pink Floyd, but you will not find it too complicated. Actually, it is so malted and seriously done that it really deserves to be a part of every A-Z collection. You will understand why this title is one of cult albums from the seventies. Always in their own world, Eloy just could not make anything better than to prove that there are some great rock bands in the rest of Europe. In Germany, Eloy is known as their "best art-rock band ever". Frank Bornemann, Klaus-Peter Matziol, Detlev Schmidtchen, and Jurgen Rosenthal made it so well in 1977. Twenty two years later, their Ocean is still big. I hope you will dive into its water. Good luck!"